online school options

[Frustratedbeyond]

my 17 yo son diagnosed with adhd just a year ago…supersmart tests 99% on psat but cannot make it through classes like english and history due to writing and deadlines. I am done with public school. He did well with edgenuity class last year that was self paced with hard deadline with when class had to be completed. I am looking for affordable online option that colleges will look favorably on in case he matures enough at some point to actually go. Welcome suggestions and why. TIA

[Mamamichl]

I’m a newer teacher with k12/stride at one of their free charter schools in Michigan. We actually have a ton of kids with special needs because it seems to work better for them than traditional school. The only deadlines we have are end of quarter/semester when we have to submit grades. Students can also redo assignment/assessments. We have a long list of natural accommodations. I would call the local schools in your state and ask about those accommodations.

One thing to note: graduation isn’t always 4 years; it’s based on credits taken and needed for graduation like a college is.

because I am new, I’m not sure which ones colleges look favorably on.

Hope this helps! Zen hugs!

[penn_adhd]

Get him a 504 or IEP. You can get deadline extensions put in place or things like having notes provided if he struggles with that. For example, when an elementary teacher gave us 100 multiplication problems for homework in one night I'd get a week to do them. I simply could not get that done in one night. It didn't help that I was 2 years behind in my math skills for a while either.

[Redpanda5]

Hello! Your username says it all! I was in the same boat 2 years ago. Very intelligent 17 yo daughter who couldn’t make it through classes. We pulled her from her pressure cooker high school in Washington DC and enrolled her in International Virtual Learning Academy in California. It is accredited, been established for well 2 decades and has students matriculate to college. The diploma will say the school name and state of California on it along with all the academia signatures.

I did a TON of research (over 15 schools) and this one was the best fit due to the nature of self pace and lots of graduation options along with its well defined path to graduation. Some I researched allowed some college courses to be taken alongside — like the ASU Academy, but they also required some live zoom classes. IVLA is all self paced and independent.

There are several curriculum platforms in which to choose from. We chose Edmentum, as that is what her old high school had used for her temporarily when she was having trouble attending school. (Her previous high school was very elite so I had confidence that they used a shared platform). She used one other for electives that I can’t remember right now.

The courses are all self paced and we found it to be very affordable. You pay monthly based on the timeframe it takes one to finish. You are assigned a coach who has periodic check ins to make sure everything is going okay and helps make adjustments if necessary.

They will provide accommodations as well. My daughter couldn’t do recorded the presentations for some assignments (social anxiety) so they let her do something else instead.

Credits transfer nicely. She had already satisfied all the basic requirements of high school but she had to take some extra classes (4? I think) at the requirement of the school because they won’t enroll you to just take 1-2 classes. This was fine though because it bumped her up to a higher tier for college entrance.

I found them to be responsive, organized and capable. It’s a fine tuned program with accredited, reputable learning platforms. My sister is a high school special education teacher and she gave this school the thumbs up too.

My best advice is to get that diploma! College can come later but high school has a shelf life.

I’m here if you have any other questions.

Best!

[Frustratedbeyond in reply to Redpanda5]

Thank you for the detailed response. I will look into it!

[Frustratedbeyond in reply to Redpanda5]

Is the tuition about $3750/yr? I looked up ILVA and assuming that is the one.

internationalvla.com/online...

[Redpanda5 in reply to Frustratedbeyond]

Yes. 👍🏻 That is it.